Calls for harsh action after violent assault by Milnerton High pupils caught on video

There are calls for the 18-year-old Milnerton High School students seen assaulting a fellow learner in a now-viral video to face the full force of the law.

The video shows a group of teens from the school beating another learner with belts, a hose pipe and a large stick.

Eight pupils have subsequently been identified and suspension letters sent to them by the school.

Activist Lucinda Evans said that the age of the students does not take away from the severity of the crime.

"The video speaks for itself. It is violent. It is malicious. There is intent."

Evans said that anyone who took part in or witnessed the assault without taking action to help the boy or alert educators at the school ought to be expelled.

"This was not a random act. They're the first team. They've got some elite status at the school."

She had a message to the parents of the perpetrators and the onlookers to the assault.

"Keep your children at home, so that every single victim that has ever been hurt by your son can continue their schooling in peace."

TheSouth African Police Service (SAPS) has indicated a case of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm is being investigated and arrests could follow, but Evans is not hopeful.

"The police are very reluctant to open up a case when it's minors."

The Western Cape Education Department (WCED)'s Bronagh Hammond said that the suspended learners will now face a disciplinary hearing.

"The school is treating this with the seriousness it deserves and has acted upon the allegations and the video that has emerged," says Hammond.

To listen to Evans in conversation with CapeTalk's Clarence Ford, use the audio player below: